Media’s Perception of Beauty

Almost all women have looked at themselves in the mirror and been “disgusted” with what they see, even when there is absolutely nothing wrong with the way they look. While looking at themselves in the mirror, most are critiquing the smallest detail of their body. Either they are too fat, have arm flab, have a pooch in their lower belly, etc. If these women are anything like me, after critiquing their bodies, they start fantasizing about their idea of the “perfect body” and wishing they had it. Not only are women disgusted with they see on the mirror but they are also worried about what the weighing scale says. In today’s society, I think women have different perceptions on what they think the “perfect body” is. The most common perception women have of the “perfect body” is more or less a thin person, probably a size 3 or 4 in pants, a thigh gap and a small waist. Then there is my perception of the “perfect body” which is a body builders type of body: muscular toned arms, back, abs and legs, voluptuous booty and decent sized boobs. There are even little girls who look in the mirror and critique themselves thinking they’re fat or not beautiful. Women don’t just come up these body image’s in their heads, they have seen women who look like this in all types of media.

Media isn’t something that can just be ignored, it’s everywhere. No matter where you look, there is some type of media showing off girls with the “perfect bodies” or advertising products to help women lose weight (because they assume all women want/need to do so). TV Shows such as “America’s Next Top Model”, “The Victoria Secret Angel Fashion Show” and for younger girls “Toddlers and Tiaras” are the main sources where women get their image of the “perfect body”. They see these women who are what the media perceives as beautiful and think that is exactly what they have to look like to be considered beautiful by society. My biggest concern with the way media portrays women’s image of the “perfect body” is that most women don’t look even close to the women on TV, heck most the women on TV don’t even look the way TV portrays to them to look. Because women don’t look like the women in media with the “perfect bodies”, most of women end up having some type of eating disorder. This breaks my heart because in my opinion, all women are beautiful in their own way. Even though there are a lot of women out there who believe this, I do not believe that everyone has to look like a Victoria Secret Angel, America’s Next Top Model, or in my case a Body Builder to be seen as beautiful.